Money Transfer cards

movvy

Looking for a few opinions on Money Tranfer cards, in particular consolidating some debts that I have along with tighter budgeting.

I have an overdraft on a hsbc acct with a hefty interest - about £320 overdrawn. I try to pay a bit off each month. I also have a credit card with hsbc with about £700 left to pay.

I am wanting to cut my ties to Hsbc altogether and keep my banking to First direct.

The top money transfer card appears to offer balance transfer and money transfer. Would consolodating the debt on to this one card and budgeting to pppay it off within the 32 months be a good strategy?

I just want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding the pros and cons here...

Thanks.

eskbanker

movvy wrote: »

I am wanting to cut my ties to Hsbc altogether and keep my banking to First direct.

You do realise that FD is just a division/brand of HSBC?

Generally it's better to get rid of overdrafts rather than CCs so if you can, keep your CC payments down to the minimum (if not doing so already) and use any excess to pay off the overdraft asap.

However, that's just general advice, a lot depends on what you're actually paying in interest and other charges for the overdraft and the card, plus the likelihood of being accepted for a money transfer card....

movvy

Thanks eskbanker.

Yes, I am aware that FD is a division of HSBC. It is not, necessarily, some kind of morale stance on HSBC - I simply don't want to use the account anymore and would rather have the credit card associated with it 'settled', the overdraft 'settled' and my ISA switched to First Direct.

MSE's soft search checker suggested a 90% acceptance rate on the MBNA card. I know this is not a guarantee.

I have ~£700 on my HSBC card. This was a Balance Transfer card. There is a few months left on the 0% interest on this card - I am not paying any interest on the balance currently. I pay the minimum on this at the moment.

I'm not sure of the exact interest on my overdraft but I rather not be paying it at all. I try and pay in £20 to keep this going in the right direction.

Obviously, I'd rather not have an overdraft or CC's if I can avoid it, but the reality is that I pay off both at the best rates that I can afford.

I also have a Tesco Credit card which I transferred the balance from to the HSBC card some time ago. I don't use this card and have not for some time. Presumably, if I was to put in another application I would want to close the account on this card?

eskbanker

movvy wrote: »

I simply don't want to use the account anymore and would rather have the credit card associated with it 'settled', the overdraft 'settled' and my ISA switched to First Direct.

If you have funds in a cash ISA with HSBC (or anyone else) then chances are you'll be earning next to nothing in interest when compared with overdraft charges (but check interest rates first), so in my humble opinion you'd be better to use funds from your ISA to pay off the overdraft. You can then arrange your finances as you see fit!

thebritishbloke

eskbanker wrote: »

If you have funds in a cash ISA with HSBC (or anyone else) then chances are you'll be earning next to nothing in interest when compared with overdraft charges (but check interest rates first), so in my humble opinion you'd be better to use funds from your ISA to pay off the overdraft. You can then arrange your finances as you see fit!

This. If you do have savings, use it to pay off your credit card and overdraft. You'll be getting ~1% interest with it in an ISA, compared to the 18% interest you're paying on your credit card and overdraft.

In regards to money transfer cards, if you were to transfer it, you'd be best to transfer it all over so it's all on 0%. You'd likely have a large enough credit limit to transfer over £1000.

movvy

Thanks both.

To clarify - the monies I currently have in savings/ISA are barely worth mentioning and not sufficient to clear the debt; but I see the point.